Permutations

c.15 min

March 25, 2023
Stevens Center, University of North Carolina School of the Arts
Winston-Salem, NC

University of North Carolina School of the Arts Symphony Orchestra
Robert Franz, conductor
Dmitri Schteinberg, piano

solo piano; picc.2.2.2.2-4.2Ctpt.1.1-timp.perc(2)-strings

This single movement concerto for piano and orchestra was designed as a companion work for the single movement concerti of Liszt and Prokofiev’s Concerto No.1. While it is not required that Permutations be programmed in tandem with one of those pre-existing works, its length of approximately 17 minutes would certainly allow for any such pairing.

So, naturally I took inspiration from the great pieces of Liszt and Prokofiev. From Liszt, I took note of his practice of melodic transformation. The opening harmonic material stated in the solo piano, and then the orchestra, morphs throughout the piece and serves to introduce melodic ideas that evolve as well. The progress of this transformation of musical elements are often interrupted by lengthy cadenzas for the soloist.

And it is in those cadenzas that I found inspiration from Prokofiev’s pianistic language. The pianist is required to produce powerful passages of arpeggiated and chordal structures, that are clearly derived from the transformational harmonic and melodic material.

‒ Robert Chumbley